Sears reaches agreement to cover repairs after woman calls NBC12

When NBC 12’s Eric Philips met with Jan Whisner in her New Kent home back in early December, she was at her whit's end.

"My life has been on hold, sleepless nights, wake up in the middle of the night going what am I going to do,” Whisner said. “I've talked to so many people and all I've got was I'll get back to you in 28 hours, 42 hours, 72 hours and nobody has ever gotten back to me."

She and her husband bought a refrigerator from Sears and workers delivered it last April. In the process of crews removing the old refrigerator, Whisner says they scratched her hardwood floors. You can see the scratches, some of them zig-zagged, some in straight lines.

"And other people might not see it as much as I do, I know my floors and that's not my floor,” Whisner said.

Over the next eight months, Whisner made a battery of phone calls to Sears, the delivery subcontractor, and finally to the insurance company representing the delivery company. Whisner says the delivery company offered to pay $2,100 to repair the floor, but she insisted that would not be enough, because the entire floor needed to be replaced.

"You can't just patch it, because I've already asked Joe Bell from Joe Bell flooring could you do that, and he said no, because you would really notice it if you did,” Whisner said.

She kept making phone calls but finally got a letter from the insurance company denying her claim. That's when she got 12 On Your Side involved.

I reached out to officials at Sears' corporate office, who said they'd look into the matter and get back to me. Our story aired, and about a week after that, I got an email from Sears stating in part:

"The original insurance claim was denied because the damage was noted and documented prior to delivery of the refrigerator....Given the extenuating circumstances...an agreement has been reached...to cover the repairs and related expenses."

A week or more later, Whisner was excited to receive the payment. She sent NBC 12 an email expressing how she felt about it. It said in part:

"Eric Philips got to the bottom of this where no one else cared....What I couldn't do in months, Eric Philips did in a few weeks!! Thank you again 12 On Your Side."